I sincerely apologize for being gone for so long, and maybe I will be afterward.

Things are still tough on my end as this will very soon be a year since I lost my mother, whom I loved very much. Grief such as this, you do not get over; you simply need to learn how to live with it.

This AU has that lesson, and I am happy to have written it before it happened to me. It helped to be reminded I had that mindset long before my mom's passing, and although Facing the Past's chapters have some big grammar mistakes, it still helped with my current down-the-dumps mood.

"Mike, can I have a word with you?" Freddy asks quietly, so the others won't hear. Mike is a bit confused at first, but then his eyes change to a somber understanding. Yeah… things have been problematic since that bombshell George threw at them. Freddy has difficulty acting cheerful during working hours, knowing that he has taken lives in the past. That the monster he thought hunted him… it was actually the other way around.

"Of course." Mike figured this would happen soon. There's a gloomy cloud over his friends, and Mike does not blame them one bit, feeling down the drains about their past misdeeds. He follows Freddy into the storage room, surprised. "Not the office?"

Would've liked that, but Freddy has no wish to include his co-owner any more than he needs. "George is in there. Discussing his "shut up" money with Goldie." Mike snorts a chuckle at what Freddy calls it; he also smirks as if it is true. It won't stop the man from trying to get more; at least Goldie has dealt with stubborn people before and has much more patience with George than he currently has. But enough about that man, right now, Freddy wants to be sure where he stands with his friend. "How's things between us?" Now that it is out that he used to be the cause of Mike's former panic attacks, maybe it still is.

"Sean, you don't have to worry about me." Mike says. He has long come to terms with what happened at the former location. "I know you and the others were just as scared as I was. The only difference is that I could leave that environment; you couldn't."

"We— I could've killed you." These past few days, Freddy's mind has ruminated with these dark thoughts that he almost had taken one of his best friend's lives. Why does Mike continue to look at him as if he's still a person and not an animal that could attack at any moment? "Why don't you fear me?"

Oh, he used to fear Freddy, a lot. It was hard not to with how hostile that bear used to be, and Freddy still got that rage inside of him. He's simply now aware enough to keep it under control. "I am afraid, Sean," Mike admits to his friend, who sacrificed himself so he could live. And paid a prize much bigger than just his life. "I'm afraid you will lose yourself again, that the pain Vincent and this company caused you will reawaken this monster they turned you all into." He finds himself unable to meet his friend's solid blue eyes, eyes that once caused him so much terror; now they remind him of the strong and calm friend residing inside that body. "I am afraid you lose control over the machine, something that does not feel nor will resist whatever command it was given." He isn't afraid of his friends' tormented souls. Mike knows that the bond they share will come through in the end. What he truly fears is the machine they house; he has seen first-hand how the battle for control will do to his friends. Sooner or later, the soul will be too exhausted to fight and give in to the pain, becoming nothing but a vengeful entity that inflicts horror on whoever is unlucky enough to encounter them. Mike has gone through a similar battle, but unlike his friends, his body did not work against him and allowed his mind to fall into a depression instead of forcing him to turn his grief and pain into a mindless rage. Driving away a few tears, Mike forces himself to meet the bear's gaze, the startled and somber stare. "I don't want to lose you again."

Freddy's eyes shift between several emotions until they finally end on one, making the bear step over and put a hand on Mike's shoulder solemnly; "You won't lose me or the others. I will stand by you till the very end." Hearing that eases Mike's worries; he knows it's twisted, but he is glad that Marion trapped their spirits as it did in the end, allowing him to be reunited with his friends. Mike nods to Freddy, and the singer of this band steps away, returning it with his own smile. His friend's troubles have been calmed, though Mike knows there will be quite a while before things return to normal. "Thank you." Mike blinks, unsure why Freddy is thanking him. The bear nods to the crowded restaurant, where chattering people and children laughers can be heard. "Your words to George reminded me what this company was supposed to be: a place of joy and laughter. Not where pain and despair are allowed to thrive."

"I say you're doing a pretty good job." Mike says, even when Vincent was on the prowl at this location. He failed to kill any more children.

Freddy nods; that is true, but there have been some close calls, and knowing the truth about what he is capable of, Freddy honestly does not want to take any chances. "There's still the elephant in the room. We cannot ignore that we entrapped spirits have a short fuse when it comes to reacting to trauma, and so far, we have been lucky no one got killed." He does not like it, but Freddy thinks some discomfort for him and the others will be worth it if they can ensure the absolute safety of the people around them. "I think we should seriously consider a safety measure that will keep us from attacking people."

Bonnie mentioned the same thing, and although both he and Freddy are making some good points. Mike sees an issue: "Wasn't programming that made you go feral in the first place?"

"Yes and no, it's more complicated than you think." Freddy admits, and though he's not entirely sure how deep that issue was, he does know specific points that caused their deadly behavior. "Programming that goes against our core nature, removed control over our bodies, lack of memory, and disrepair, those things are what causes some serious distress and can end up getting us… well in a killing mood." Freddy isn't sure if he will ever be comfortable with how he used to be and how he can be if things go back to how they were before.

"So, this program has to feel natural for you?" Mike asks, thinking he understands the small mistake his thoughts made this. "It can't be like forcing you not to harm people."

"I wish, but I doubt a program is flexible enough to see the differences between harmless fun and seeking to seriously hurt someone." Freddy says he cannot say he's enough into programming to know exactly how to solve this sensitive subject, but Freddy thinks his sister may know. This leads to another thing that has troubled his mind. "How much have you told Rena about us?"

Mike glances away; he looks a bit unsure about the change of topic. "Well… I told her about how you used to be, but not how dangerous close you were to… you know."

Okay, so Rena is aware of their unfortunate tendency to lash out, just not how deadly these lashouts really are. "right, I need to ask you not to tell her more about our past. I have no wish to trouble her further."

"You don't have to ask. I never wanted to tell anyone about that."

Freddy can understand why; he does not feel comfortable about it either. Still, it is something he cannot ignore, but it is also a subject he needs to converse with the others before making a choice.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

During a recess from the entertainment show, Vixey doesn't bother taking off her pirate costume; instead, she walks over to Foxy. He has indeed put up a good act, but Vixey knows him and can see something is bothering the older fox. Not sure what, only that he is very sad. Vixey isn't the type for talking; she's more action-orientated, so instead of trying to make Foxy talk about whatever troubles him, Vixey simply hugs him.

This tender action surprises Foxy, and unsure if she heard what George said. If something else troubles her, or if he didn't hide his troubled mind well enough; he does not know. All he does know is that things aren't as happy as he would like. Foxy returns the hug, "It will get better," he says, partly to her but also to himself. Foxy knows far too well that if he and the others do not overcome this pain, it will only consume them as before. Turned them into monsters he only wanted as part of his tales. "We will overcome this."

Vixey hums, trusting her mentor's words that whatever storm is hanging over the Gang, they will get through and return to where they can see the sun again. She wants them to overcome it, for if they have a problem, then… what are she and the other kids supposed to do? Vixey needs them to be assured that no one will hurt her as they did at the former location. That she won't be turned into a mangled mess and left as a jigsaw puzzle. She wants to deal with this on her own, but Vixey does not feel ready to take on the same responsibility as the older bots.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"So, are you two cool?" Spring asks Bonnie, giving the rabbit a faint smile that hides the worries that his adopted brother can't be around his biological due to this messed up coincidence. Bonnie pretends he didn't hear him, acting as if he's much busier focusing on playing on his guitar, but Spring knows that Bonnie can play on that thing and still have a conversation. "Or are you set on giving him the cold shoulder? Better than throwing my brother in the trash, I guess." As hoped, that last comment got a reaction from Bonnie. Fortunately, people did not notice that the rabbit skipped a node, and it did not look like there's a music fanatic around. Other than Bonnie, of course.

It's hard not to laugh at that visual scene of Jeremy literally getting thrown in the trash, but Bonnie manages to bite his tongue and keep more or less a straight face. He stares annoyed at Spring, one who always had this stupid skill of getting a reaction out of him with his, at times, offhanded comments. "Not everyone can be as forgiving as you, Spring." He hisses in a low voice, no wish to alert their customers about this private conversation. Returning to doing his actual job of giving people a good time, although he feels far from having a good time himself. "You can't imagine how I felt when they tore me apart like that. And to know Jeremy was one of them." It's easier to be angry and not see Jeremy's point of view about that event. But it is much harder than expected to hold onto a grudge against a man he is getting more or less along with and has to work alongside for who knows how long. At least Jeremy is keeping his distance, which has made Spring jump into the role of mediator between them. "I can't forgive him for that." Eyeing said golden hare, "No one can forgive someone for causing so much pain." He breaks the hare's somber stare, a sneer on his muzzle. "You don't know how it is knowing you have killed someone."

"I do, actually," Bonnie looks at him, surprised, and not breaking the gaze, Spring reveals that he knows exactly how both of his brothers feel about this topic. "I have taken two lives, both without knowing. One of them was by someone who got springlocked. I found their rotting body stuck inside of mine." Bonnie's eyes wide in sheer horror, but he can't imagine how it felt. The terror of seeing a rotting face under his, pieced into place by the springlocks, knowing that his body, arms, and legs had the same thing underneath. "It was what awoke my human memories… which caused the second death." Spring still feels deeply regretful about what he had done, but like Bonnie, and the others, they weren't aware and so traumatized that they acted out their pain in the worst way possible. "I thought it had been my own body I tore apart, but it turns out… it was some unlucky person, and I do not think their death was a quick one either…"

"Spring… I…"

He should stop; Bonnie sounds like he got the message that what Bonnie experienced is small compared to what he went through. But it's not what message Spring wants his adopted brother to leave with. So he continues. "In my unhinged state, I ended up catching Thomas— I'm the one who made him mute." Bonnie gasps at this knowledge, and this is why Spring believes Bonnie can forgive his brother. "Even after I killed his co-worker, made him mute and traumatized him, most likely for life. Thomas still found in his heart to see that I wasn't myself, that my terrible actions weren't out of malice but a place of tremendous pain. He forgave me, even though he had every right not to. Bonnie, you have every right to be crossed at what Jeremy did." Spring won't force either to forgive the other. It has to be their own choice. However, he does believe that such things can only be laid to rest if both partners realize the terrible situation both were in. "But you have to see it from his side as well; he didn't know you were sentient. He had lost me to the same company, and then he had to deal with animatronics that kept glitching out, yet the management never did anything about it."

…. Guess he has to see it from Jeremy's point of view. Spring isn't really giving him a choice— unless he truly wants to disrespect the golden hare for sharing this understandable deep trauma of his. Bonnie knows that things couldn't have been easy for Jeremy either. Hell, the man won't hesitate to voice his thoughts if he has an issue with something. Often, Jeremy makes comments about the differences in how things were before till they are now. Bonnie thinks it's the man's way of complimenting stuff, but it's hard to tell as Jeremy loves to complain… a lot. He sighs in defeat, "Guess I have to talk with him about it."

"What a good idea." Spring says in a voice as if he hadn't suggested the very same thing these past days. "Nice knowing you want to solve this little past issue."

Bonnie shoots this obnoxious hare a glare. "Only so you stop hounding me about it." Which Spring, of course, replies with a sickly sweet matter of fact: "I don't hound; I'm a hare, not a dog." He rolls his eyes at his brother's comeback. Spring only laughs at it, and, incredibly, he does not look as if he has just shared his biggest regret. Bonnie would've admired him for this ability— if he didn't have the urge to kick the hare off the stage.

I have managed to write a couple more chapters this year, but I still appreciate light-hearted suggestions. I need something funny to write before I throw myself at the heavier stuff of this story.

Hopefully, I will see you again in a week or so.